Enhancing Taiwan’s role as “a regional security partner” and promoting global supply chain resilience are among the top priorities of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in the second year of US President Joe Biden’s presidency, AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk said on Wednesday evening.
Speaking at the annual Hsieh Nien Fan (謝年飯) banquet hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, Oudkirk said that the US-China relationship is facing challenges in areas such as trade and human rights, while the US is also concerned about Beijing’s ties with Moscow, especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In the Indo-Pacific region, China’s aggressive behavior is especially obvious in Taiwan, where Beijing continues to exert military, diplomatic and economic pressure, she said.
Photo: CNA
China continues to “choke Taiwan’s international space, pressure its friends and interfere in Taiwan’s democratic system,” which poses a threat to all democratic countries, she said.
China’s provocative military activities near Taiwan are disrupting stability and peace in the region, she added.
To counter China’s actions, the US would continue “standing with allies and partners to advance our shared prosperity, security and values in the region,” which is at the core of Biden’s foreign policy, Oudkirk said before discussing the AIT’s objectives.
First, the US would continue to assist Taiwan in enhancing its defensive capabilities to improve “Taiwan’s role as a regional security partner,” as stability across the Taiwan Strait is key to regional peace and in the US’ interests, she said.
The US is “deeply concerned by ongoing PRC [People’s Republic of China] efforts to undermine that stability,” she added.
Second, the US would work with Taiwan to bolster global supply chain resilience through a series of initiatives, as Taiwan is at the center of the semiconductor supply chain, and a pioneer in 5G technology and artificial intelligence, Oudkirk said.
Taiwan would play a crucial role in the recovery of supply chains affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, she added.
The US is to use the Technology Trade and Investment Collaboration framework to encourage investment in semiconductors, electric vehicles, cybersecurity, renewable energy and energy storage from both sides, she said.
The AIT this summer is to form trade delegations to visit the US to discuss the framework, which would help “build scalable eco-systems and enhance collaboration between and among companies, research institutions and innovation centers,” she added.
Third, the US would keep “supporting efforts to preserve and expand Taiwan’s international space,” offering more opportunities for Taiwan to share its expertise at multilateral forums and interact with international partners, she said.
The institute would also strive to deepen “economic and people-to-people ties” between the US and Taiwan in high-tech fields and beyond, she said.
Taiwan was the sixth-largest consumer of US agricultural products and the US’ eighth-largest trade partner in goods last year, with per capita trade only behind Canada and Mexico, she said.
Last year, the US and Taiwan relaunched Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks and held the second Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue, which would promote economic cooperation between the nations and help “build a coalition to counter the PRC’s unfair economic and investment policies,” she added.
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS